The Seriousness of Being Funny w/ Tom Shadyac (Rebroadcast)
Release Date: 09/30/2019
#162 The Presidents’ Day Rundown
The Road to Now
The Road to Now is celebrating our fourth Presidents’ Day by launching our first Presidents’ Day episode! To mark this momentous occasion, Bob and Ben both sat down with a list of three significant moments in presidential history and discussed how they changed the country. Are there Roosevelts? Yes. Are there presidents born in three different centuries? Yes. Should you listen instead of asking any more question? Yes! We hope you enjoy the episode! Edited by Gary Fletcher & part of the Osiris Network.
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#161 Food in the Era of Adulteration w/ Benjamin Cohen
The Road to Now
When it comes to food, knowing what you’re getting can be tricky. On the surface, words such as “pure” and “natural” seem straightforward, yet defining them in the modern world has required experts, laws, & administrative structures. In this episode, Bob & Ben speak with Dr. Benjamin Cohen about the pure food crusades of the late nineteenth century, the origins of the Food & Drug Administration (1906), and the lessons this era offers us as we seek to make decisions about food policy in the 21st ce
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#160 NASCAR and Moonshine w/ Kyle Petty and Dan Pierce (Recorded Live at the McGlohon Theater in Charlotte, NC)
The Road to Now
NASCAR has a reputation as a family-friendly organization, but its history is inseparable from the moonshining and bootlegging of the prohibition era. While today's cars have little in common with their mid-20th century predecessors, many of the sports traditions have endured. In this episode, Bob and Ben talk with third-generation racer Kyle Petty and Dr. Dan Pierce of UNC-Asheville to find out more about the history of stock car racing and the changes that have transformed the sport in the 21st Century.
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#159 The History of Charlotte, NC w/ Thomas Hanchett & Pam Kelley (Recorded Live at the McGlohon Theater in Charlotte, NC)
The Road to Now
Charlotte, NC has grown tremendously in the last half-century, yet it still lacks a clear national identity. Bob & Ben both spent pivotal years of their lives in the Queen City, so they dedicated the first portion of RTN Live in Charlotte to a conversation on the city and its history with two people who know it best: historian Dr. Thomas Hanchett (author of Sorting Out the New South City) & journalist Pam Kelley (author of Money Rock). The show opens w/ musical guest David Childers.
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#158 Live in Carrboro, NC- Charisma in American Politics & Society w/ Molly Worthen, Doug Heye & Rufus Edmisten (Recorded at Cat’s Cradle)
The Road to Now
Dr. Molly Worthen (History, UNC--Chapel Hill), Doug Heye (CNN/former RNC Communication Director) & Rufus Edmisten (Deputy Chief Council, Senate Watergate Committee/ former NC Secretary of State & Attorney General) join Bob & Ben for a conversation about charisma in American politics and society. Recorded live at the legendary Cat’s Cradle on Jan. 25, 2020.
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#157 The State of the Union w/ Matt Negrin
The Road to Now
After our last episode on the separation of powers in the Constitution, we heard from several listeners who said they wished we’d spent more time on the topic. The people have spoken, so we’re following up with another episode on modern politics & the Constitution w/ special guest Matt Negrin!
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#156 Executive Boundaries
The Road to Now
2020 begins with an Impeachment Trial in the Senate and will end with a Presidential election, so Bob and Ben are kicking off the year discussing the relationship between the Executive and Legislative branches of the federal government. Their conversation covers the articles of impeachment against Trump, the gap between the modern Presidency and the Executive imagined by the founders, and the problems that might be solved by changing our expectations of Presidents moving forward.
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#155 Uncivil Christmas w/ Carson Hudson
The Road to Now
In our final episode of 2019, Bob & Ben speak w/ historian Carson Hudson, whose program “Uncivil Christmas” tells of life in Williamsburg, Virginia during the years of the Civil War. Carson explains the politics and culture of the era, the major role that music played in uniting (and dividing) Americans during the war, the challenges of understanding how people in the past experienced war, and the ways that the Civil War still looms large in American culture today.
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#154 America's First War on Christmas w/ Bruce Carlson
The Road to Now
On Dec. 25, 1776, George Washington & his men celebrated their first post-Declaration of Independence Christmas by crossing a freezing river to mount a surprise attack against their enemies. The plan worked, but almost 250 years later the story of Washington crossing the Delaware might surprise you too. RTN favorite Bruce Carlson of My History Can Beat Up Your Politics joins Bob & Ben for a conversation about these recognized, yet little-known battles & how they affected the the war for independence.
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#153 Floating Coast: The Environmental History of the Bering Strait w/ Bathsheba Demuth
The Road to Now
In 1848, New England ships crossed the Bering Strait in pursuit of bowhead whales. About a century and a half later, Bathsheba Demuth graduated High School in Iowa and moved north of the Arctic Circle in the Yukon. Now Bathsheba joins Ben for a conversation about her research, how her fascination with the arctic led her to dedicate much of her life to understanding Beringia, and the ways that an environmental perspective allows us to better understand our place in the world and that of others.
info_outlineThis is a rebroadcast of RTN #34 with an update on Tom's work since we spoke with him in December of 2016.
Tom Shadyac has probably made you laugh. He was the youngest ever staff joke writer for Bob Hope and he directed some of the biggest comedy films in recent memory, including Ace Ventura: Pet Detective and The Nutty Professor. A lot of people would say Tom has “made it.” Tom would disagree.
Tom joins Ben and Bob for a conversation about his life and the path that led him to abandon the pursuit of fame and material abundance to focus on helping others. He tells of his 11-year period of unemployment as he struggled to find success in the Los Angeles comedy scene, his relationship with Jim Carrey and how following his own passions led him to take a risk with Ace Ventura. Tom also talks of his approach to teaching film, and explains why he defines success as a state of mind. Other topics of conversation include the LA comedy scene, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and Tom’s deep commitment to the people of Memphis.
The Road to Now is part of the Osiris Podcast Network. This rebroadcast was edited by Gary Fletcher.